The War Sonatas

"Prokofiev’s Eighth Sonata, together with the Sixth and Seventh, forms a trilogy of “War Sonatas” that stand at the pinnacle of Prokofiev’s creation, alongside the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, Cinderella, and War and Peace. What most distinguishes these wartime compositions from earlier works is their undiluted seriousness of purpose, an uncompromising charting of depths that Prokofiev may have avoided heretofore."

[Prokofiev’s] Piano Sonatas Nos. 6, 7, and 8, the so-called “War Sonatas” written in the 1940s, often come off like pianistic assaults. In Solzhenitsyn’s hands, they are varied and nuanced, with influences from Chopin to Poulenc contributing to some of Prokofiev’s most compelling moments. 

— David Patricks Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer

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